Discovering the Ligon

Chapter 5 - Ava

Just fucking fantastic. The icing topped on my cupcake of a shit day. Damn Crystal and her big mouth.

I stand up and face King Zac. Do not show fear in the face of a predator. Do not piss off said predator either. The last part is much harder for me considering I have no love or respect for the king. He's not necessarily a bad person, just self-centered and a "my boys can do no wrong" father.

Right now, the king is facing Crystal since she is the one to open her big mouth. I was hoping to talk to dad first, after he came to me, cause I sure as hell was not going to him if I could avoid it before I had to talk with the king. Either way, now I would have an audience since Crystal opened her big, fat mouth.

"Sir, it was Ava. She punched Ryker in the face after he saved her from tripping and hurting herself again." Crystal sounds so innocent. Like she was not the one to trip me. Making it seem like I tripped myself. Yeah right. I have taken martial arts since I was seven years old. I would have failed after the first few months if I didn't have balance.

The king turns to me with a confused look with hard gray eyes. "Ava punched Ryker? Are you sure Crystal?"

"Yes, sir. Everyone saw it. It happened at school today." Crystal sounds a little affronted that he would question her statement, but she quickly looks meek again when he glares at her for it.

Sternly glancing back at me, the king commands, "Ava, come with me." Turning to my father, "You too Robert. I think I would like to speak to both of you together. Zeke, find Ryker and tell him to meet me at my office. I think it's time we all had a talk. Isaac, you will stay here and monitor the pride and you will oversee Queen Lisa's protection." The king leaves expecting us to follow him. It's the norm here with the older generation. They give an order and we are to just obey without question.

Dad motions for me to follow the king. Like I was going to disobey. I am a closet rebel and smartass, well most of the time, but it's better than to disobey the king, especially in public.

We leave the meeting house and head across the grounds to the main house, the king's residence. In this modern-day and age, the king owns a large mansion but nothing that would draw attention to himself or the pride. Most of the pride members are middle class while the upper class is millionaires, including the king. Most shifters try to live a normal life without copious amounts of possessions to avoid drawing attention.

The king owns twenty acres with fifteen acres of it being woods full of trees with a small pond we can play in when shifted. It also has several buildings on the land, including the main house, the servant's quarters, the pool house, the meeting house, and the guest house for visiting Prides. As we walk across the grounds, we pass between the guest house and the pool. On the other side of the pool is the pool house and behind it is the servant quarters.

We finally reach the house and enter through the back door that leads into the mudroom. The mudroom is used for shifting, just as the pool house and the meeting house are. With all the new types of technology that can record, we try not to shift in the open. But if there is a picture taken of a big cat we can claim someone photoshopped the image.

The king heads straight for his office with my dad and I trailing behind him. The king chooses to stand in front of his desk and face us as my dad and I stand side by side, with dad on my left showing his position over me. The left side signals he is my elder, either by rank or within the family. In this case, it's both. If he had stood on my right side, it would show that he's my equal, such as a sibling until we matured and became more powerful than the other, or a mate. No matter the ranking or the power wielded, mates are always considered equal.

The king stands straight, in a superior way, showing he's in charge. I keep my stance non-confrontational with my arms hanging by my sides, but my dad crosses his, displaying his displeasure. For now, it's just the three of us and I'm glad for it. Less intimidation. I wish. The two men in charge of my future stand before me. Why did I have to be so stupid today?